NHL Betting News This Month | NHL Free Agency Has Been Bananas & Market Analysis | July, 2026

Chris Wasselby Chris Wassel
Updated: July 3, 2026

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The biggest offseason betting storylines to watch comes from free agency. Yes, the NHL Free Agent Frenzy gets quite chaotic. The silly season sees lots of money spent, some trades, and occasionally the offer sheet. This time of year sees all sorts of things. Eventually, there will be a full schedule release and a few more updates on the futures/outrights. In the meantime, there is all those dollars.

Who will sign those free agents and make those moves that get them closer to Lord Stanley’s Cup? Carolina appears set to let Brandon Bussi take the reins fully. Vegas has had to make some moves including trading Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers. At one point, teams were swapping rights and then the rumors started to kick in. It has been a little south of sanity.

Anyway, there is the rest of NHL Free Agency to talk about along with NHL arbitration, and next season’s Stanley Cup odds. That sounds like lots of fun!

Before we check on even more NHL betting news and betting trends, we serve up top-flight NHL betting news and analysis. So, do check out the best NHL betting sites for 2026 and explore all the Stanley Cup betting resources.

NHL betting storylines breakdown

Scroll below to find the latest NHL storylines and betting opportunities on the following topics:

  1. There are so many rumors. Naturally, there had to be plenty of rumors.
  2. The NHL Draft and those trades. We break down what happened during the two day NHL Draft in Buffalo.
  3. The bigger free agent signings. Hey, some teams went fishing and caught something!
  4. Recapping Days 1 and 2 of the Free Agent Frenzy. Free agency has been far from dull.
  5. Alexander Ovechkin will play one more year. The left winger will play this season once more for the Washington Capitals.
  6. There are 2026-27 NHL Futures already? That is correct. Stanley Cup and award futures are now out.
  7. We have an offer sheet? Yes, the New Jersey Devils added a little spice to the offseason.

The NHL rumor mills are flying

Anyone who is anyone might have saw this coming. You mix a salary cap going upwards north of $100 million (104 to be exact) with teams willing to spend/wheel-and-deal and you get chaos. Teams were not going to stand pat but what is crazier is the rumors that have not come to fruition just yet. There is the chance that some of the juiciest stories we have heard wind up fizzling before our very eyes.

Dallas has now had two deals nixed by players. Jason Robertson is one thing but Thomas Harley is another. General Manager Jim Nill has quite a situation on his hands.

So, Nill has to see what can be done with Robertson (trade, play it out, etc.). After that, things have to be patched up with Harley or not. He is not the only GM with a multitude of dilemmas. It feels like so many teams are in this position. Again, this may come down to when/if Quinn Hughes gets extended, Larkin or Robinson get moved, etc. It feels like we are all waiting for something.

Blake Coleman going to Minnesota was not expected. Anaheim lost three of their defenseman. San Jose made moves to get bigger on defense (Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba). Columbus, like we mentioned last time is its own mess. It appears Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko will stay this season…for now. Teams are definitely all over the place.

The NHL Draft and those trades

So, the NHL Draft has come and gone for all 32 teams. Now, Toronto drafted Gavin McKenna as expected. San Jose then turned and picked Ivar Stenburg. After that, things started going in some unexpected directions. Vancouver selected Caleb Mahotra while Buffalo sprang up to the fourth pick to take Daxon Rudolph. San Jose and Toronto did a great job with asset management in this draft. Pittsburgh, Anaheim, and Nashville were among the other teams that thrived in the two-day process.

Once more, the NHL Draft on June 26th and 27th may be more remembered for the trades that happened just before, during, and a little after. Besides so many draft picks being exchanged, there were moves. Buffalo dealt Bowen Byram to Chicago (who extended him to a 6-year deal, 12.5 million AAV). The Sabres moved Alex Tuch in a sign-then-trade deal with the Washington Capitals. Tuch will make a tidy $10.5 million over the next eight years.

Now, during the draft, it was debated whether Zach Werenski and Jason Robertson both nixed deals. It then appeared that Kirill Marchenko wanted out of Columbus too. People have to understand with players going all over the place, the rumors got out of control. This happens often this time of year. We even forgot that Jordan Kyrou got traded from St. Louis to Washington. Oops!  Even Mason McTavish got dealt from Anaheim to St. Louis. He has six more years left on his deal.

John Carlson’s rights got dealt to Carolina but they could not make a deal with him. Seattle traded for Mackie Samoskevich’s rights and were able to land the player. It was interesting to see what happened with some moves. Yet others did not happen yet. What about Dylan Larkin? Well maybe that, along with Robertson, does not happen now.

Yes, stay tuned bettors. Things are far from done.

The Bigger free agent signings

The NHL Free Agent Frenzy has been a fun one so far and it is only two days through. Surely, the holiday weekend may produce some more signings. However, less than 40% of the TSN Top 50 list is left to sign. It has been a bit nutty. Darnell Nurse going to San Jose while Jacob Trouba gets a huge deal with the Sharks was not on the bingo card. That’s over $17 million AAV in payroll for the next few seasons. For those wondering, there were quite a few moves. Teams spent a whopping $949 million in Day 1 spread over 166 contracts.

While we wait on Connor Hellebuyck. the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year deal ($7 million AAV). Bobrovsky won the Stanley Cup twice with the Florida Panthers. Then, there were all the extensions. Nico Hischier signed a five-year extension worth 11.7 million per season to stay with New Jersey. Dan Vladar got $5.5 million for five years and Rasmus Andersen will stay in Vegas for seven years ($8.5 million AAV). Tyson Foerster got eight years at $7.1 million in Philadelphia. Even Ivan Demidov got an eight-year extension in Montreal ($9.1 million AAV).

This free agency period has been unexpectedly fun with Stuart Skinner going to Winnipeg (two years, $3.75 million AAV). Oliver Bjorkstrand signed with the New York Rangers at $4.5 million AAV for a year. John Carlson waited till late in Day 1 to join Tampa Bay on a two year deal worth $8.5 million a season. Utah added Anders Lee (former Islanders’ captain) to a three year, $5.4 million AAV deal. Lee may wind up replacing Barrett Hayton.

Clearly, there were more than enough deals to make one’s head spin. Below, we spotlight some more.

Even more free agent signings

Now, the NHL Free Agent Frenzy is not done but a lot of top names did go places. Then, there were others too. Andrei Kuzmenko went to Pittsburgh on a one year deal ($5 million). Frederik Andersen went to Edmonton on a one year contract worth $2.8 million. Andersen was replaced by Brandon Bussi in the Stanley Cup Final for Carolina after a solid run for most of the postseason.

Mario Ferraro wound up going to Winnipeg for three years at $4 million AAV. The Tkachuk brothers welcomed Jacob Markstrom back to Florida. His two year-extension from New Jersey kicked in on July 1st. While not a signing, (trade), it did address the Bobrovsky departure. Vincent Desharnais went to Washington on a four-year, $4.2 million AAV deal. That surprised some people. On the other hand, Erik Haula signed with Los Angeles for two years at $3.6 million AAV.

The Oilers added Ryan Shea for five years at $4 million AAV to absorb the “loss” of Darnell Nurse. Boone Jenner leaves Columbus for Washington to join Alexander Ovechkin (four years, $5.75 million AAV). There are more and will be more but we will save that for a later time. Jakub Dobes inked a three-year deal worth $5.36 million AAV. The Montreal goaltender gets rewarded.

Alexander Ovechkin will play one more year for Washington

There was some speculation that Alexander Ovechkin might go home to Russia and play in the KHL this year. That got quickly put to bed when Ovechkin put pen to paper on Thursday inking a one-year deal to stay with the Washington Capitals. The NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer has over 900 goals in his storied career (929 to be exact). He had 32 goals and 32 assists in 82 games last season. Washington gets its sniper back for an incentive-laden deal that pays him $1 in actual salary and up to $9 million in bonuses, etc.

Yes, the deal is technically for $4.25 million but there is a $4.75 million bonus for games played. Ovechkin will get there no question about it. He and the Capitals have a lot of unfinished business and have added to their team this offseason. It should be interesting times in Washington D.C. as the goal light turns on often.

Stanley Cup 2026-27 futures get an update?

The Stanley Cup futures get an update sort of. Early on after a couple days of free agency, some numbers have bunched back a little as Florida, Carolina, Vegas, and Colorado still top the list. However, Edmonton is close at +900 while Tampa Bay will make a push from its +1200 perch. Expect Washington to shorten in the coming weeks (+2500 now). Again, there are a few free agents still out there and no one quite knows what will happen to Jason Robertson or Connor Hellebuyck just yet.

Anyway, Dallas has plenty of questions and Minnesota does too. Will Quinn Hughes get that extension everyone has been talking about? How long will it be? There is some considerably uncertainty as to what may happen next. It could happen in hours, days, weeks, or who knows.

Sunny Mehta has bettors believing as the Devils have shortened to +2500 and it is little secret that New Jersey is not done yet. Poker players never show their entire hand.

Speaking of hands…

The Barrett Hayton offer sheet

What would we do without an offer sheet? We will keep this simple but the New Jersey Devils have offered Utah Mammoth Center Barrett Hayton a one year sheet at $4.75 million on Wednesday. Utah now has a little less than six days to match it. Hayton did indeed sign the offer sheet.

With Utah signing Anders Lee, one has to wonder a little about Hayton. The former first-round pick has not had an easy time in Arizona/Utah. Many are expecting him to bounce back this 2026-27 season after injuries.

The fun thing here is that there was a deal to bring Hayton to New Jersey but Utah pulled out at the last minute. We have a feeling this may not be the last twist of the offseason. Needless to say, stay tuned!

Previous betting news updates

  • [June 2026]: Carolina wins the Stanley Cup and now the NHL Draft and Free Agency approach..
  • [June 2026]: Vegas and Carolina in middle of Stanley Cup along with draft and free agency talk.
  • [June 2026]: Vegas and Carolina battle onward for the Stanley Cup as the offseason draws closer.
  • [May 2026]: Vegas and Carolina favorites with IIHF World Championships well underway.
  • [May 2026]: Vegas is on the verge of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final while Montreal and Carolina continue to battle.
  • [May 2026]: Carolina still waiting with Colorado on the verge of advancing all while Montreal and Vegas in longer series.

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